Mortality is often viewed as a key indicator of the quality of care in a healthcare organization, and something that most organizations are working to improve upon.

Through Vizient's work with national organizations all working to improve mortality, key lessons learned have emerged that can help organizations improve mortality within their facilities. Shannon Hale Senior PI Director of Performance Improvement Programs at Vizient joins host Nicole Spatafora, AVP, Performance Improvement, Vizient, to discuss mortality improvement.

Guest:

Show Notes:

[00:47 – 02:48] Why it is so important that healthcare facilities look at mortality

[02:49 – 04:24] Getting C-Suite buy in

[04:25 – 07:36] How organizations can get their frontline engaged

[07:37 – 08:58] What happens if you don't have engagement at the C-suite level or frontline level

[08:59 – 10:55] Sustaining change

[10:56 – 12:15] PI Mortality future plans

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Value analysis empowers health systems to make strategic, evidence-based decisions to optimize patient outcomes and reduce costs. Host LaTammy Marks and guest Nicole Schmidt talk about the power of value analysis in healthcare. Nicole shares how her team built a structured process that emphasizes stakeholder engagement, data integration, and continuous improvement at the University of Kansas Health System.

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Patient immobility can lead to serious complications such as muscle loss, blood clots, depression and loss of independence. However, without proper training and support, many healthcare workers feel it is unsafe to mobilize patients. Host Laura Hoffman is joined by Nancy McGahn, enterprise safety mobility manager at Intermountain Health, to discuss "Mobility is Medicine." They explore how the Safe Mobility Program integrates fall prevention, safe patient handling, and mobility strategies to improve outcomes. 

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Hospital mergers and acquisitions can be both transformative and complex, requiring careful alignment and integration of systems. In this episode, host Thomas Sauls speaks with Ed Moore, President of UMass Memorial Harrington Hospital, and Eric Alper, Chief Quality and Clinical Informatics Officer at UMass Memorial Health, about the successful acquisition of Harrington Hospital. They share insights into the integration process, from transitioning to a unified electronic health record system to enhancing financial and quality performance while preserving organizational culture and community-focused care.

Guest speakers:

Eric Alper MD

Host:

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Workplace violence in ambulatory care settings presents unique challenges due to open access, isolated locations and limited security resources. Jennifer Rodgers, Chief Nursing Officer at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, speaks to our host, Maha Siddiqui, about effective strategies for preventing and managing risks. Jennifer shares her experience developing key interventions, including AI-driven communication tools and her role supporting both staff and patients. 

Guest speaker:

Host:

Links | Resources:

Jennifer Rodgers: [email protected]

Show notes: 

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In this episode Dr. Lauren Williams, Patient Safety Manager at AHN Wexford Hospital, shares valuable insights from her hospital's efforts to improve sepsis care. Speaking with host Shannon Hale, Lauren highlights the critical need for enhanced compliance with SEP-1 sepsis care bundles, tackling challenges like high readmission rates and resource constraints. She discusses innovative strategies, such as providing real-time feedback to emergency departments and inpatient teams to drive improvement. 

Guest speaker:

Host:

Show Notes:

[1:12] Dr. Lauren Williams discusses entering Vizient’s Performance Improvement Collaborative to understand how other healthcare systems are addressing sepsis challenges

[1:59] Goals for joining the collaborative and information shared across the board

[3:13] The importance of using data to improve outcomes for sepsis patients and how it leads to meaningful process changes

[4:35] Dr. Williams explains how her hospital was able to overcome significant barriers and navigate challenges despite working with limited resources

[5:13] Celebrating some of the greatest successes, including improved compliance, reduced readmission rates and lower mortality rates

Links | Resources:

Dr. Lauren Williams’ email: [email protected] 

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More than 200 medical journals identified climate change as the greatest global threat.  In this podcast, UW Medicine describes how focusing on environmental sustainability improved their vendor selections, supply chain flow, patient care and saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Guest speakers: 

Gabriella Henkels

Louise Simpson, MHA

Host: 

Show Notes:

[1:34] UW Medicine’s green team and their purpose

[3:45] Determining environmental sustainability opportunities

[6:00] What teams to include and how to get leadership buy-in

[7:45] Establishing goals

[8:30] Environmental sustainability success stories

[12:50] Lessons learned

Links | Resources:

Contacting Knowledge on the Go: [email protected]

To learn more about Vizient’s Environmental Sustainability program contact: [email protected]

Another podcast on this same topic: Go Green: Why your healthcare system should be engaged in environmental sustainability: https://knowledgeonthego.podbean.com/?s=go%20green

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Hospitals are in the business of improving care and want to keep patients safe and have a satisfied workforce. More creative staffing models are emerging, and hospitals are focusing on more advanced training of non-licensed nursing personnel (unlicensed associates) to perform tasks previously relegated to nurses. Nurses have the capability and responsibility to delegate. With effective teamwork, patient outcomes can improve as nurses are freed to work at the highest level of their education and experience.

Guest speaker:

Host:

Show Notes:

[01:21] Nursing Operations at Unity Health

[02:00] Comprehensive delegation training: components and oversight

[03:50] Putting the training program together

[05:41] Tools and sessions

[08:07] Advice to other organizations about nurse delegation

Links | Resources:

Contacting Knowledge on the Go:

[email protected]

Amber’s email: [email protected]

Michelle’s email: [email protected]

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Chronic illnesses present a significant challenge to our healthcare system, straining resources and impacting patient quality of life. One innovative approach to tackling this issue is the community health worker model, a strategy that empowers individuals to take control of their health and navigate complex healthcare systems more effectively.

Today, we are exploring the creation of the model and how to create sustainability. Vanessa Saylor, systems director of health equity at Main Line Health in Philadelphia joins us to discuss her work on building the community health worker model.

Guests:

Vanessa Saylor, Ed.D, MSW, LSW, CCM

System Director, Health Equity

Main Line Health

Host:

Margaret Rudisill, RN, BSN, MS-HQS

Senior PI Program Director

Vizient

Show Notes:

[01:21 – 02:24]  The moment Vanessa realized that a community health worker model could make a significant difference in managing chronic illnesses

[02:25 – 03:58]  Gaining buy-in from stakeholders

[03:59 – 05:23]  Initial challenges you faced when trying to implement the community health worker model and overcoming them

[05:24 – 07:17]  Most effective strategies fostering trust between the community health worker and the patients

[07:18 – 08:32]  Data collected and analyzed to demonstrate the worth and sustainability of the program

[08:33 – 09:47]  Advice for other organizations looking to build a successful community health worker model

For more information, email [email protected]

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The pharmacy revenue cycle is a multi-phase continuous process, which requires ongoing collaboration across many disciplines. The process starts at pre-registration and continues through payment reconciliation. Steven Loborec, associate director of Pharmacy at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center joins host Jim Lichauer to discuss the details of his program.

Guest:

Moderator:

Show Notes:

[00:45 – 02:34] Overview of pharmacy revenue cycle process and areas where tOSU Wexler Medical Center is engaged

[02:35 – 04:10] Addressing the Charge Master

[04:11 – 09:14] Finding new and additional revenue streams

[09:15 – 13:31] Identifying medications or sites of care opportunities that generate greatest margins

[13:32 – 14:14] Lessons learned

Links | Resources:

Contacting Knowledge on the Go: [email protected]

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